Frankenstein Monster Mask - Horror House Ad

Here's a cool alternate Super Frankenstein Mask Ad that ran back in 1968 from Horror House's "Super Mask Department". Not sure what publication this ad ran in, the scan was snagged from Ebay a few months ago. I love the verbiage of this ad... Not only did it offer a Super Frankenstein Monster Mask, but this one was Giant too! And also Terrifying!!! and Gruesome!!!
 

Kinnikuman Mask

Back around 1985, which would have been 5th grade for the Phantom, my favorite toys were my box of M.U.S.C.L.E. wresting figures. These little pink monster figures were based on the Japanese figures that went by the name of Kinnikuman. As it turns out, some genius decided to make a Kinnikuman mask! Even though this is far from the typical type of mask I tend to appreciate, this discovery still brought on some serious full-tilt geek excitement...

The Kinikuman mask can be found at PartyCosPlay.com . The site is written in Japanese. I got a real kick out the the translation that Google Translate gave. I couldn't make this up if I tried:

Product Description

Kyn meat man rubber mask. A professional wrestling fan is unmissable.

• Real rubber mask (for disguise, mimicry)
• I am surprised at a real mask for an instant!
• I am usable for mimicry, disguise, a costume play
• Kyn meat man mask
• Musclebuster 

※It takes approximately around one week for the appointed date of delivery to become the order product. I understand it and ask.

  

Don Post 2012 H3 Reissues

Head hunters have been buzzing about the Don Post H3 reissues since their public debut at Maskfest last year. It would seem we're one step closer to their release with these photos being put up on the Don Post Facebook page last week. These appear to be the standard versions. While there's been plenty of speculation, there's still no "official" word on a release date, or quantities, for the collector's edition.

Random Sunday Morning Mask Pic: Vacuform Skull

Image Source: High Steel Heels

DIY - 'They Live' Masks

Check out this fun tutorial from Make Magazine. I ran into the link while checking out the ShellHawk's Nest blog this past Thursday. The tutorial is super straight forward and shows how to make masks of the creepy skull like aliens from John Carpenter's "They Live" for $15 bucks!

Burman / Wheeler Masks

A truly amazing package from Hawaii showed up at the Phantom's front door earlier this week. The contents were four Ellis Burman Sr. masks, complete with a stamp from Bert Wheeler's Magic Shop. Here's a few shots of the opening of the package. It was double boxed, and packaged with a tremendous amount of care. It felt like an archeological dig to finally get to the masks...

I've written about the history of these masks in a previous post, so I won't go into that again here. But, I wanted to share some photos and make the promise that more will be on the way. In addition, I'm planning to start a small site  documenting the story of how these guys came to me,  their restoration, as well as info and past photos of Burman's amazing masks. More info on that coming soon.

If you're in search of more info in the meantime, please check out this thread on the Monster Kid Classic Horror Forum. It's packed with some great photos and info.

Here are some beautiful photos of the set that were sent to me last week before the package was shipped...

Ellis Burman Sr. - Dracula Mask

Ellis Burman Sr. - Frankenstein Mask

Ellis Burman Sr. - Phantom Mask

Ellis Burman Sr. - Were-Wolf Mask

Here's a look at the inside of a few of the masks...

The Masks of Famous Monsters - Issue # 32

Welcome to the eleventh installment in The Masks of Famous Monsters Series. Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine was an absolute treasure trove of early mask history. By combing through the 191 issues published between 1958-1983, it's possible to gain a good understanding of the decades of evolution and history of Don Post Studios and Topstone monster masks. The eventual goal of this series is to catalog and archive each monster mask appearance in the pages Famous Monsters.

The March 1965  issue of Famous Monsters of Filmland Magazine marked a significant milestone in the history of the publication, and the world of monster masks. For it was issue #32 that saw the debut of Don Post Studios masks in the pages of Famous Monsters. This would represent the beginning of what would prove to be a match made in heaven for both Don Post Studios and Warren Publishing.

Page 83 of issue #32, had the honor of bestowing the inaugural Don Post monster mask ad in FM. Both The Don Post Universal Pictures Rubber Monster Masks and the TV Munster Masks were offered, although the Munsters Masks themselves were not pictured.  These early Don Post monster masks were created with sculpted on hair. This would represent the very first opportunity for readers to order Universal Monster characters in monster mask form! It must have have been the thrill of thrills for all monster kids in the early spring of 1965...

The 1st Don Post Monster Mask ad in Famous Monsters Magazine

Prize Brand Vacuform Clown Mask

Headhunters Quarterly Vol. 3 Num. 2

Continuing along with the goal of eventually scanning each of the HHQ issues to preserve for mask and monster enthusiasts, here is issue #10 (Vol.3 Num.2). As always, a .PDF of the issue can be downloaded, just right click here and save!

 Issue #10 was the second Headhunters Quarterly published in 1999, and it remains one of my personal favorite issues. Not because of a single article, but rather because HHQ had really found it's stride with a number of excellent departments and features. The editors and contributors had absolutely hit a homerun with this issue. Like all previous issues, HHQ #10 kicked off with the "Headatorial" & "Cool New Stuff" departments. At three full pages, this was one of the most impressive showings of new mask releases that could be found in any issue of HHQ. Harry Inman's Dark Studio, Death Studios, Dr. Lady, Phil Nichols, Ed Martinez, Jeff Wehenkel, and Darkside Studios were all featured...

Issue #10 also covered the Transworld '99. For those of us who didn't have access to the event, this was the only coverage available of the national Halloween and costume show...

Next up was a wonderful article entitled "Everything Old is New Again", by mask collector and enthusiast Dan Roebuck. Re-reading the article still brings back warm and fuzzy memories of my youth, as well as the year that was 1999. It was a great time to be a monster lover in general!

Part two of "The Return of the Classic Don Post Universal Monsters Masks!" was the portion of issue #10 that most of us head hunters were waiting for since issue #9. In the part 2, the Karloff Frank, Moleman, Phantom and Hunchback are showcased. 

 And, of course, like all previous issues of HHQ, the issue wound down nicely with the Subscriber Classifieds...

1990 Distortions "Grave News" Ad

This Distortions "Grave News Form the Other Side" Ad could be found in several issues of both Fango and Gorezone in mid to late 1990 in color and black and white variations. This ad ran around the same time as the "Beam of Darkness" ad.

The top row of the ad showcased the entire Distortions "Extreme Series".  This was a bizarre run of masks, each with a grossly exaggerated sensory feature. The masks pictured in row 2 came from Distortion's "Scream Series". While the final row belong to Distortions premium "Infinity Series"

In my opinion, one of the scariest Distortions masks of the 90's could be found in this ad... the Distortions "Frightmare" mask...

Distortions - Frightmare Mask

Random Sunday Morning Mask Pic: Happy Halloween '78

Image Source: Snapatorium

Dr. Lady - "The Monster" Mask

Here's another flyer that arrived in the mail in the mid to late '90's from David and Laura Lady's Horror Hotel. This one featuring the David Lady's creation "The Monster" from the 1972 film Lady Frankenstein...

Carol Hicks' - Monster mask from Lady Frankenstein

Vic Rattlehead Mask

Yesterday, I ran into some great pics from the current Megadeth tour "Killing Road". The band has been on the road for the majority of 2012. In fact, they just swung through my neck of the woods last week with Motorhead. A dream line-up from my teenage years indeed! Although, I passed the show up due to the $150 dollar ticket. No, worries, I've seen both a good number of times, although the double bill would've been nice. It's hard to pass up a Motorhead show.

Alright, back to the point of the post. Among the photos I ran into of the Megadeth tour were some nice shots of their masked mascot in action, none other than Mr. Vic Rattlehead. Here's a nice write-up on the maker of the Vic Rattlehead mask and costume.

Image Source: Megadeth on Facebook

Monster Maker Series #6 : Rick Stratton

The Monster Makers series is a monthly look at the men that made the monsters. Many FX and make-up men started as garage mask and monsters makers. Some graduated to making rubber monster masks or monster suits for Hollywood films. Still others went on to produce revolutionary effects...

This month's edition of the Monster Makers series features a write up on Rick Stratton from the November '84 issue of Fango. Mr. Stratton's fingerprint can be seen all over the early 80's monster mask world. The article kicks off with Rick's time at Don Post Studios and how he first tried his hand at sculpting...